Growth capital firm Glow Capital Partners has taken a minority stake in tech-enabled education platform Ecommerce Equation.
Chief executive Jay Wright, who founded Ecommerce Equation in 2020, will retain a 59.9% stake and will continue to lead the business.
Ecommerce Equation offers subscription-based courses on digital marketing and training designed to help online businesses scale up. The Ecommerce Equation community has grown to over 2,000 and Glow sees potential for this to be increased substantially.
Glow founders Justin Ryan and Kate Morris and associate director Annie Chen will join the company’s board.
Ryan said: “Ecommerce Equation has been at the forefront of redefining how businesses manage their digital marketing, successfully empowering brands to develop their in-house capabilities and resulting in some remarkable e-commerce growth stories. The pursuit of scalable growth for small and medium businesses goes beyond digital strategies alone. With founders also keen to learn operational strategies for sustainable expansion, Ecommerce Equation and its community play a vital role in providing the necessary guidance and education in these areas.”
Morris said Glow team members had talked with many fast-growing consumer and industrial brands and had been intrigued to discover that many of the more impressive ones used Ecommerce Equation’s services.
“This partnership is highly aligned with Glow’s focus on identifying and supporting strong founders,” she said. The global e-commerce sector continues to evolve at a rapid pace and we believe that our partnership with Ecommerce Equation will allow us to capitalise on the industry tailwind in a picks-and-shovel approach to the dynamic sector.
Prior to founding Ecommerce Equation, Wright managed his own digital marketing agency for six years and worked with brands including Culture Kings, Camilla and Tigerlily.
Ecommerce Equation is Glow’s second investment following its investment in corporate outfitting business Cargo Crew in September.
Glow seeks to write equity cheques of $10 million to $50 million in companies with enterprise values in the range $20 million to $100 million.
The firm’s first fund achieved a first close at $55 million in March last year and is scheduled for a final close at the end of March this year.
Glow was advised on its investment in Ecomerce Equation by PwC while the company was advised by law firm Paradise Charnock O’Brien.
Image: Ecommerce Equation founder Jay Wright.